Concord Faces West Liberty in MEC Quarterfinals

Concord Stats - West Liberty Stats - Live Audio - Live Stats - Live Video - MEC Tournament Central - Complete Game Notes

ATHENS, W.Va. - The Concord University men's basketball team has advanced to the Mountain East Conference Tournament Quarterfinal round after picking off Davis & Elkins, 107-100, in double overtime Monday night at the Carter Canter in the MEC Tournament's Opening Round.

LIVE COVERAGE
Audio: Jason Reed and Steve Cox will provide live radio play-by-play of Friday afternoon's game on 94.5 "Willie" FM and streaming online at www.mywillie.com
Stats: The Mountain East Conference will have live statistics of each game in the MEC Tournament
Video: West Virginia MetroNews will provide live streaming video throughout the MEC Tournament. 

RECORDS
CU has earned the right to play West Liberty 2:00 p.m. Friday at WesBanco Arena in Wheeling, West Virginia as it enters with a record of 9-7.

Since losing three straight games near the end of January, West Liberty has ripped off nine straight wins and is ranked 19^th in Division II at 13-3.

BATTLE GROUND
Concord defended its home court Monday night in a classic at the Carter Center. Playing in its first double overtime game in over two years, the Mountain Lions got a combined 78 points from senior forward Liam Evans (21 points), sophomore guard Ethan Heller (28) and senior guard/forward Malik Johnson (29). Evans was one point off his career high after posting 20 points in Saturday's defeat against Glenville State. Johnson did, however, notch a career best in points as he also went over 1,000 points in his career midway through the second half. The Wytheville, Virginia native was the 40^th player in program history to accomplish the milestone. Now with 1,019 career points, Johnson is 38^th on the all-time scoring list at CU and needs four points to move into 37^th. Monday night was the first time Concord had three guys with 20 or more points in the same game since November 2019 in an overtime win over Charleston at home.

WORKING EXTRA
Concord and Davis & Elkins had earlier played an overtime game this season with the Mountain Lions squeezing out an 87-82 win over D&E. But, Concord is no stranger to tight gameS in postseason play. Last season, the Mountain Lions opened up the MEC Tournament by defeating Notre Dame, 73-68, in a contest where CU had to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit. Two seasons ago, the Maroon and Gray was edged by West Liberty, 88-84, in the MEC Tournament Semifinals. Monday night also marked the sixth time in the last seven MEC Tournament games that a CU player or players have scored 25 points. Heller and Johnson accomplished the feat Monday. Trey Brisco scored 27 and 26 points in two postseason games last year. Tommy Bolte notched 32 points in his final game in the Maroon and Gray in 2019 while also scoring 28 and 51 points in two MEC Tournament games in 2018.

FINDING THE RANGE
The Mountain Lions hit double-digit three-pointers against Davis & Elkins as they finished 11-for-25 from three-point distance, marking just the fourth time this season CU has hit 10 or more triples in a contest. Heller led the parade of three-pointers with a career-best six. Johnson and junior guard Brandon Kennedy accounted for two each and senior forward David Bea Mulumba hit a crucial triple in the first overtime. Over the last three seasons, Concord is 24-8 when knocking down at least 10 three-pointers, including winning all four games this season. While the Mountain Lions only made seven triples in their win over West Liberty earlier this season, Concord shot a tidy 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from three-point range.

HERE TO ASSIST YOU
After coming up one assist shy of tying a season high against Glenville State with 18 assists. The Mountain Lions handed out a season-best 21 assists which was the first 20-assist game in the last 21 games. Additionally, Concord has had 10 or more assists in four straight games and six of its last seven contests. Johnson tied his career high with seven assists to just two turnovers. Heller had his third game in the last five with at least five assists as he finished with six against Davis & Elkins. Junior guard Seth Brown had another three assists off the bench. In addition to the assists, the Mountain Lions have also taken care of the ball by committing 12 or fewer turnovers in five of their last six games.

HERE WE GO AGAIN
Friday's clash between Concord and West Liberty will be the fourth time in the last six MEC Tournaments the two sides have met, including the last three years. No other two MEC schools have played more in the last six MEC Tournaments than Concord and WLU. In fact, the only two schools to play each other three times in the last six conference tournaments are Charleston and Fairmont State. The two schools have met in each of the final three rounds of the postseason, including the 2016 MEC Semifinals won by CU. West Liberty eliminated Concord in 2019 quarterfinals. Heller scored 17 points against the 13^th-rated Hilltoppers in last season's MEC Tournament's Quarterfinals, including ringing in five three-pointers. Johnson scored 12 points before fouling out in 23 minutes of action. Friday will also be the eighth consecutive year that the Mountain Lions play West Liberty twice in a season when WLU is ranked in the games.

RIDING HIGH
The Mountain Lions knocked off then-No. 4 ranked West Liberty January 20 at the Carter Center, 91-83, to send the Hilltoppers to the first of their three straight losses. Concord shot a season-high 54.7 percent paced by 8-for-10 shooting and a then-career high 25 points from Johnson, and 22 points and 14 rebounds from junior forward Mohamed Bundu. Though he only scored seven points, Kennedy was the primary defender on Dalton Bolon—the two-time MEC Player of the Year. The Chillicothe, Ohio native did allow Bolon to score 17 points, but caused Bolon to turn the ball over seven times while only recording one assist. Junior guard Seth Brown scored a career-best 15 points in upset of West Liberty. On Monday night, Brown scored all six of CU's bench points against D&E. Concord has only shot better than 50 percent in three games this season, twice against Davis & Elkins and the West Liberty contest. Matter of fact, the Mountain Lions have shot 50 percent or better in two straight games versus WLU.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
5- Before Monday night it had been five years since CU played a double overtime game in the postseason—the 2016 MEC Semifinals versus West Liberty.

10- Concord held WLU to 10 offensive rebounds in the first meeting. The Hilltoppers average 16 offensive rebounds per game.

26- Season high in made free throws for Concord in the win over West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY AT A GLANCE
The Hilltoppers enter the MEC Tournament not only with a national ranking beside their name, but re also the fourth-ranked team in the Atlantic Region this season. The top six teams in the Atlantic Region make the NCAA Tournament. Bolon was one of three players that made the All-MEC First Team. Pat Robinson and Will Yoakum also made the All-MEC First Team. The trio combines to average 55 points per game. Robinson scored 26 points against CU in January on 10-for-15 shooting. Yoakum was contained to seven points in the first meeting. A total of five players fouled out in the first game this season (Robinson, Bryce Butler and Malik McKinney for West Liberty and Evans and Kennedy for Concord). Veteran guard Luke Dyer has never averaged more than 5.7 points per game in a season, but will play in his 110^th career game Friday. This season, Dyer is scoring 4.3 points per game to go with team bests in assists per game (4.4) and steals per game (2.2). Dyer leads the MEC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.7 to 1, nearly double second place at 2.5 to 1.